Wednesday, September 16

7 Chinese Brothers

Exclusive Area Premiere September 11–17!

Director Bob Byington will appear in person for Q+A at 7:30 shows on Friday & Saturday!

(2015) dir Bob Byington w/Jason Schwartzman, Eleanore Pienta, Tunde Adebimpe, Olympia Dukakis, Stephen Root, Alex Karpovsky [76 min; DCP]
This deceptively slight naturalistic comedy from writer/director Bob Byington charts one small step forward in the life of inveterate slacker Larry (Schwartzman) who finds himself at a crossroads when he is fired for stealing booze from his dead-end job. A mildly abrasive eccentric, Larry fancies himself a wit but often just comes off as aloof and thoughtless. His marginally successful relationships include his grandmother (Dukakis), who keeps him afloat financially, and his best friend Norwood (Adebimpe), who provides him with pharmaceuticals. Larry doesn’t really aspire to much besides hanging out with his sidekick Arrow, a permanently disgruntled bulldog. He doesn’t want to write the Great American Novel or anything. The most he’s looking for is maybe a job he doesn’t despise and a little bit of love. And it’s possible that he’s found both by the end of the film.

Buoyed by a typically charming performance by Schwartzman, 7 CHINESE BROTHERS stands out among the current pack of indie films about white male slackers trying to find themselves in that it’s not concerned with making a grand statement or involving itself in high drama – most of the opportunities for melodrama end up undercut by low-key humor. In fact, if it wasn’t so laid back, it might be a parody of these films.

“Feels like an homage to the early work of Wes Anderson.” – Sara Stewart, New York Post

“Jason Schwartzman does the full Bill Murray in 7 Chinese Brothers… There are more laughs here than in most Hollywood quote-unquote comedies. Call it quirky or observational or shaggy, but almost everything works.” – Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News